Baby brother Bairstow joins the Mountain West with his own brand
Sean Bairstow, a 6-8 guard for Utah State, looks forward to Pit
Lobo hoops fans already have Feb. 18 circled on the calendar.
That’s the night the Nevada Wolf Pack comes calling to Dreamstyle Arena with several Lobos of the past on the opposing bench, including former coaches Steve Alford and Craig Neal and former players Roman Martinez and Kory Alford.
But what many fans may not realize is that less than two weeks later, there will be a second Lobo family homecoming, of sorts.
On Feb. 29, the Pit will welcome the Utah State Aggies and the return of Bairstow basketball.
Sean Bairstow, the younger brother of former UNM Lobos star and 2014 Chicago Bulls draft pick Cameron Bairstow, is a 6-foot-8 guard who is expected to be a key part of the rotation this season for the defending Mountain West champions.
And he’s already shared his fond memories of the Pit, where he saw his brother play in the 2013-14 season and where his older sister, Stephanie, also played against the Lobos when she played basketball for the Utah State women’s team.
“He keeps talking about it — how he’s excited to go to the Pit and how the fans are going to talk about his brother,” said USU junior Diogo Brito. “He said his sister, she played at Utah State, and when she played there the fans were on her about it. But he’s excited.”
While he’s following in the MWC basketball footsteps of his older siblings, don’t get it twisted. This isn’t the second coming of Cameron Bairstow, who developed into a dominating, muscle-bound power forward known as much for his work in the weight room as on the court before playing for the NBA’s Bulls, back home with the NBL’s Brisbane Bullets and now professionally in Lithuania.
Sean has his brother’s height, but is a guard. He won the team’s preseason dunk contest last month at a fan event and had a well-rounded 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists in last week’s exhibition win over College of Idaho.
“Totally different players,” said USU coach Craig Smith. “Cameron is more of a 4-5, 5-4 type (power forward/center). Sean is very versatile. Can play the 1, 2 3 (point guard, shooting guard, small forward). Very mobile. Very high IQ. And he can play with any of our guys and you barely notices he’s a freshman. I’ve asked Diogo, Abel (Porter) and Sam (Merrill) multiple times how they like playing with Sean, and they say, ‘We love playing with Sean.’”
That trio certainly lit up when asked about their new freshman teammate last month at the MWC media summit in Nevada.
“Just the other day, we were in the study hall and Sean just gets up and leaves,” Brito said. “He goes and talks to his brother and he asked him all about Cameron’s routines and what he did in college to be so successful. Cameron told him about his nutrition, about his rest, about his practice habits. I think Sean is going to follow his brother’s foot steps.”
Merrill, the preseason MWC Player of the Year, and Porter were to Brito’s left, chuckling about the idea of Sean getting nutrition and workout tips from his big brother.
“He’s just really skinny, though,” Merril said, ribbing his freshman teammate. “Not like his brother was at all.”
“That’s why we were laughing,” Porter was quick to add. “Not because he doesn’t work hard, because he does.”
The three players aren’t the only ones happy about their new teammate, either.
“Sean is incredibly driven,” Smith said. “I’m really looking forward to having him on this team.”